good morning and welcome to canterbury cathedral on this second sunday after trinity this is a morning when the cathedral church itself is open in the nave part of the cathedral for private prayer so people have been coming in so that they can light their candles throughout saturday and as we begin the service this morning they will be entering the nave and at a safe distance from each other we'll be able to say their prayers and light their candles for others throughout the world we hope this is just one step towards a bigger easing of the lockdown so that in the month of july we can begin to worship together in the cathedral in a very limited way we've come into the hen house and it's got capricious black clouds outside but that's not the reason we've come inside today but we have here a sort of little maternity ward of broody hens and here is one of the mothers we'll see one or two of her little infants later on but she is a pekin hen who has come to england across the seas long long back not she herself but the breed from china and uh one of the silkies that is she has hatched uh is one of those too but let's have a think about that later we give thanks for all forms of new life and um also we wish prince william a happy birthday today for this is his birthday on june the 21st so we begin our morning prayers o lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise visit us with your salvation and sustain us with your gracious spirit oh come let us sing to the lord let us heartily rejoice in the rock of our salvation let us come into his presence with thanksgiving and be glad in him with psalms for the lord is a great god and a great king above all gods come let us worship and bow down and kneel before the lord our maker for he is our god we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind as we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen are some on this morning of the month is psalm 20 psalm 105 for the 21st morning oh give thanks to the lord and call upon his name make known his deeds among the peoples sing to him sing praises and tell of all his marvelous works rejoice in the praise praise of his holy name let the hearts of them rejoice who seek the lord seek the lord and his strength seek his face continually remember the marvels he has done his wonders and judgments of his mouth the seed of abraham his servants o children of jacob his chosen he is the lord our god his judgments are in all the earth he brought his people from egypt brought them out with silver and gold there was not one among their tribes that stumbled egypt was glad at their departing for a dread of them had fallen upon them he spread out a cloud for a covering and a fire to light up the night they asked and he brought them quails he satisfied them with the bread of heaven he opened the rock and the waters gushed out and ran in the dry places like a river for he remembered his holy word and abraham his servant so he brought forth his people with joy his chosen ones with singing our lesson this morning is taken from the 27th chapter of the acts of the apostles beginning at the first verse when it was decided that we should sail for italy they delivered paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the augustan cohort named julius and embarking in a ship of adremitium which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of asia we put to sea accompanied by aristarchus a macedonian from thessalonica the next day we put in at sidon and julius treated paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for and putting out to see from there we sailed under the lee of cyprus because the winds were against us and when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of silesia and pamphilia we came to mira in lycia there the centurion found a ship of alexandria sailing for italy and put us on board we sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty of cnidus and as the wind did not allow us to go farther we sailed under the lee of crete off salmone coasting along with difficulty we came to a place called fair havens near which was the city of lazia since much time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous because even the fast was already over paul advised them saying says i perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss not only of the cargo in the ship but also of our lives but the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what paul said and because the harbour was not suitable to spend the winter in the majority decided to put out to sea from there on the chance that somehow they could reach phoenix a harbour of crete facing both southwest and northwest and spend the winter there our psalm was very much about the lord's care for his people sheltering them like this little lady is sheltering the beginnings of her new brood for there are many more to hatch and in the same way saint paul on a very dangerous journey is being sheltered by the lord's care and he does his best to advise that the journey take place according to what he knows might happen in terms of danger but his advice is not heeded that kind of thing worries those who look after folk but let's just see one or two of the little chicks at this time and just see how mummy is faring here's a tiny this is a silky and is so small and fluffy that when this breed first came to england they were thought to be related to rabbits because they're fair and the rabbits were and the little fluffy original feathers of the chick were so like each other this little chick will spend time now under the shelter of mother's wings and we know already that there are two chicks here the other from a different kind of egg and we know our idea how many will hatch but what we do know let me put the little chick back so mummy can look after the chick he'll find his way back under the mother hen at this point um what we do know is that the other chicks that you met whom we had hatched in the incubator we had to look after and careful they had come simply from fertile eggs from the hens that came here this one has a mother to look after and gradually will learn from mother how to eat and how to drink go back to our psalm through all the journey through the wilderness the people were guided by the lord led on the way by a fire by night and a cloud by day and at the same time given quails bred from heaven the manor and the water from the rock as they went all these are signs and symbols but they're signs and symbols of a journey through the world and god's care for us in all of this today we give thanks for life throughout the world we give thanks for our ability to care for one another and we give thanks that in the acts of the apostles we see the good news of the gospel beginning to go forward into other lands and small churches being formed paul has had to leave his broods behind to be carried away in imprisonment but he's left folk that a cat for them and through the ages christian communities have been cared for by leaders who were trained and sent either to them or found among their number when we say our prayers for churches across the world it's those that we are praying for as well as the communities themselves the gifts of leadership the gifts of care but they're only signs of a gift of care for the whole of humanity when we care for one another let's say our prayers on this morning and give thanks for all forms of new life with this little image before us we pray on this day in the anglican communion for the whole church of nigeria and for henry ndukuba the metropolitan primate of all nigeria and bishop of abuja all his peoples throughout that vast land and we pray for justin our archbishop for rose bishop of dover for tim bishop at lambeth and for the parish of sitting born with bobbing for the clergy there mike wretch leslie jones elizabeth wretch and sue samson and the life of that community so we pray for our own communities as well the collect for today lord you have taught us that all our doings without love are nothing worse send your holy spirit and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love the true bond of peace and of all virtues without which whoever lives is counted dead before you grant this for your only son jesus christ's sake amen and the son collect for this day god of our earthly journey feed your easter people with the bread of heaven that we may hunger and thirst for righteousness until we reach our promised land through jesus christ our lord amen that this time also we pray for imagination in our care for one another on our earthly journey we say the prayer our lord taught us in whatever language and in whichever way you would normally say it our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever are men so some silence for us to make our own prayers on this second sunday after trinity [Music] to god's most gracious mercy and protection we commit you the lord bless you and keep you the lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you the lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you his peace the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and care for and all whom you would pray for today now and always amen